In reflecting on what went well (and what didn’t) in 2023, and on what I’d like to do better in 2024, I didn’t want to come up with a series of “resolutions:” too easy to make them, try like crazy […]
Four Words for 2024
You can Lose Everything in an Instant.
Recovering from recent emergency surgery to repair a torn retina, I am reminded once again of the fragility and contingency of our lives. I had been in New York City, having dinner with old friends. We were enjoying a restaurant […]
Philosophy on Two Wheels: Motorcycling and Instant Enlightenment
The mythology of enlightenment follows a well-known script: our hero, usually jaded from wasting their time in frivolous pursuits, realizes that there must be a path to a better, more fulfilled life and so embarks on a long and arduous […]
What’s Freedom For?
Freedom is a worthy goal: the slave-turned-philosopher Epictetus said it was in fact the highest virtue, and over the course of human history many millions have perished seeking it, attaining it, or defending it. But, if you’re lucky enough to […]
Time Freedom: What it is and how to get it
Guest post by Chris Folland (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-folland-5b3b9814/) Here’s a life question for you: Do you want to do what you want, when you want, with whom you want… for as long as you want? That’s an interesting question, which is often […]
A Humble Recommendation for Intellectual Humility
Intellectual humility as a virtue has taken a real beating lately: our bruising political “discourse,” rancorous media punditry, and social media echo chambers all seem to celebrate, encourage, and reward staking out a position and sticking to it with ferocious […]
14 Rules for Living a Good Life
Every year, I spend a few weeks after New Year’s reflecting on the past year and how things went: what did I accomplish? How did I feel? Did I help my family, friends, and associates with the goals they wanted […]
Can You Ask Better Questions?
Facing a barrage of global and local crises of all kinds over the last several months, media pundits large and small (not to mention your crazy uncle Ralph) are offering up a bewildering and contradictory variety of opinions, each of […]
Develop Routines That Free You – Not Ruts That Trap You
In 1949, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein visited Norman Malcolm (a professor of Philosophy at Cornell and a former student of Wittgenstein’s) for three months. On the first night of Wittgenstein’s visit, the Malcolms presented a makeshift dinner of liverwurst sandwiches, […]
Is it Time to Rethink Financial Security in America?
Will COVID19 cause us to re-think government policy around economic security in the United States? Is some kind of basic financial security a privilege for the few, or a necessity for all citizens, especially in times of crisis? For at […]